


Dissonance and Harmony

by Krachwarn



Category: Siren (TV 2018)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 04:55:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14969555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krachwarn/pseuds/Krachwarn
Summary: Ben suffers stoically through months of the Siren sickness, ultimately leading him to an interesting and unlikely epiphany. Around him, the women in his life try to foster his recovery while hiding their own pain and loss, and this leads one to suffer a taste of her own medicine!





	Dissonance and Harmony

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!
> 
> Ok, I have to admit I am not good at writing summaries. I don't want to give anything away:)
> 
> This story is the result of a vivid dream I had some weeks ago about Ben and Ryn. Since then, I have noticed how similar some of the plot devices are to the Hans Kristian Anderson fairy tale (written in the 1850's), as the disney reinterpretation (1989). Take a look at those if you're interested!! Might boggle your mind. 
> 
> In any case, songs and music plays a interesting role, as well as a slight analysis of the soul. That with Ben essentially being a prince (the son of a local power figure at least) made my mind wander quite a bit. Hopefully not too much:P
> 
> Enjoy!

Ben rubbed his eyes again to dispel the exhaustion that clung to him like wet clothes. It was only noon, and yet he felt like he hadn’t slept in days. 

In weeks.

In fact, he felt he hadn’t slept at all since Ryn had said good bye a month ago. Autumn had passed, and part of winter, and yet the effects of the song remained. He shrugged, trying to shake the thoughts away as he stumbled a few steps forward. He was in line to pay for his groceries. Good God, eight more hours til bed. He did not relish that either.

He left the store and began to walk through the snow to his Jeep. As he crossed the parking lot, a familiar figure streaked past his peripheral vision. He turned. 

There she was again. Ryn, the girl of his dreams, And of his nightmares. She was so perfect it scared him. Her hair blew lazily in the breeze as she glided towards the front doors of the shop. Every curve of her body rippled under her tight red dress. She hadn’t zipped up her jacket. She turned and eyed him. Ben inhaled sharply and quickly turned his back on her. He had long since recognized that the song was making him see her where she wasn’t. Ryn had promised to stay away to keep him safe, and save Ben vowed to stay.

For her.

He left the parking lot and drove past the familiar commercial district of Bristol Cove. Past Mason’s hair salon and the old theatre. Past Helen’s. He gave it a longing glance but kept going. Maddie said Ryn was doing well; thriving in fact. Ben sighed. He followed the road til he got to the landing where his houseboat lay anchored. As he turned the last corner and saw the ice filled bay before him, the song began again.

“Dammit”, he sighed.

Ignoring it was hard, but he knew it wasn’t Ryn, so he went about his business. 

She was safe. 

Parking his Jeep, he unpacked, adjusted the thermostat, and then sat down at the kitchen table. He had only meant to catch his breath, but when he looked up, and hour had passed. Had he dozed off? It didn’t feel like it. It seemed unbearably hot in here. He looked down. He still had his coat on. At least the song was gone.

“I can’t do this anymore”, he breathed. “I need a distraction. Something. Anything.”

His phone rang. It was Maddie

“Hey Maddie,” he answered. “How are you?”

“Hey Ben; doing good. You busy? We need you down at the station.”

The conversation was warm but Ben’s heart was not in it at all. He and Maddie had made up, but both knew that things had changed. Their sex was less passionate. She was quieter and more cautious around him, generally spending less time at the Houseboat. He didn’t blame her. He sometimes did not recognise himself. 

She was often not around because of her mother, or because she was at Helen’s, but she tried her best to keep him to a normal routine. He loved her, for that, and everything else.  
He loved her with all his heart. It was just hard sometimes to show it.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Maddie hung up the phone and sighed. Ben was in one of his song moods again. She could almost always tell with him now. He would sound distracted and irritated, though he would later be able to recall everything said. He often apologized for these moments, recognising and fighting to correct his behaviour, but it was still hard to go through.

Jerry looked up at her from his tray of gutted fish.

“You ok, Maddie?” he asked.

Apparently her worries had bled into her facial expressions.

“Yeah, fine Jer”.

She straightened and moved over to get more Herring from the freezer.

“just had a rough night” she lied.

“Was it epic?” Jerry quipped. He began to hum a tune to himself that seemed particular sexual.

Maddie grimaced but let out a quick snort. He was always on about some innuendo or another, usually sexual. The man had the mind of a kid. Maddie just let it slide.

She returned to her thoughts of Ben. He was getting better, but it was going very slow. To make matters more complicated, she was beginning to become worried about Ryn, who was becoming a bit more withdrawn. 

Kamman Ben, she mused. Get better. We need you. Ryn needs you.

I need you.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

A week later Ben found himself at the Anchor with Xander having a beer. The two had made up over the death of Donna. It had not been easy to forgive, but their friendship was too deep and rooted to break in such a way.

Ben took another sip.

“So Xander, how’s the business doing?” he asked.

“Not too shabby.” The new captain replied. “Wish you’d come out with us. Jason and Aaron are fine, but it’s not like before”. 

Ben sighed…

Xander asked him every time, but his friend had long since learned his answer. His official story was that he was too busy at the Rescue Centre, but in truth Ben just didn’t trust himself out there with the song. Things had turned out ok for Xander though. He had been forced to hire new mates for the North Star after Chris and Kelvin left, but seemed to take delight in complaining about them. Ben knew this meant Xander generally liked the two.

The two continued to chat as a band seemed to be setting up. Ben saw Ryn sitting in a corner, and quickly dismissed her after a short longing glance. She seemed to stare back again, this time with an unreadable intensity. Ben had gotten into trouble before for staring too long at girls that ended up not being her, so he shrugged it off as best he could. Xander noticed Ben’s agitation, but kept his thoughts to himself. He probably knew something was up, Ben mused, but he was a good friend, and didn’t make a deal of it.

The Band “Flapjack Monkeys” finally introduced themselves. Ben had heard of them before, but wasn’t certain he wanted to stay. He quickly waved at a guy passing by whom he recognized from High school.  
“Let’s stay for this song and then bounce” he nodded at the stage. Xander downed the last of his beer.

“Sure, whatever”.

The band began their first song with a guitar solo. The melody was nothing special, but for some reason, Ben found it soothing and distracting. Time slowed around him as he listened, and he found himself humming the tune. By the end of the song, he was singing. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like he was carrying the weight of the world. He was actually happy. And Ryn had disappeared…  
‘Just one more” he gestured to Xander over the din. His friend shrugged. 

***

Ben and Xander finally left the Anchor at closing time, both drunk and happy. Ben knew what he needed to do.

The next day he bought a guitar.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ryn watched the cars go by as she sat at a table by the big window in Helen’s apartment. Each car made a small imprint in the slushy dirty snow on the road. She was supposed to be learning what Helen called the “A B C’s”, but she was distracted by her thoughts again. She found herself thinking about Ben. Looking down at her paper, she realized she had been drawing his face.

She had seen him last night at the Anchor. No one knew that she had snuck out and found him there. 

She was a little hurt that he had not come to her, but she was just happy to see him. A quick wave of guilt churned in her gut. This was all her fault. So far though, she had kept her promise to stay away, but it was getting harder and harder. 

He was love.

Maddie had warned her how he was, but it was comforting to see for herself. The week before, as she was heading into the shopping centre to find Helen, she had seen him cross the parking lot. She knew he had seen her then. Perhaps he just wasn’t ready yet. She was proud that she hadn’t run over to him there and then.

She sighed.

Maddie said he was getting better, but Ryn wasn’t so sure. She would go find him again tonight if she could. Just to make sure he is ok, she reasoned. 

Yes… just to make sure…  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Ben hummed to himself as he leafed through some sheet music on his bed. He had been practicing for about a month and was almost able to get the G chord right, but his fingers never got there in time. God, this song was hard.

But fun.

Ben was having fun. He found that as long as he was practicing, he was at peace. In fact, he found that as long as he thought of his music, his mood improved and he was able to sleep more than a few hour at a time. He smiled as he tried the melody again. It didn’t sound like much, but it was progress. He strummed the chords again, adjusting his hand.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Helen had just laid her head on her pillow when she faintly heard the apartment door click shut. Ryn had left again. She did this almost every night now that it was getting warmer outside, and both she and Maddie suspected that the mermaid was going out to check on Ben. 

That girl!

These months of living with Ryn had made her question many things she thought she knew about Ryn and Mermaids.

Ryn was very smart. She was learning reading and writing at an accelerated pace, and was an excellent help in the shop downstairs. She could now go on her own to do certain chores like get the mail using Helen’s key, and she was even keen to help out Maddie at the rescue station when Ben was out. 

She had also garnered some local attention with her looks and actions, which was hardly surprising in little old Bristol Cove. A lot of people were politely asking who she was, and Helen had deflected as best as she could. Maddie’s story of Ryn being a Biology student out of Seattle was holding for now. Still, Ryn was not going unnoticed. 

Xander was keeping an eye on her. 

And after the shoot-out in the centre of town last fall, Helen was keeping an eye out for him too.

Helen got up and slowly made her way to the apartment door. It was locked. Ryn was very clever, and had probably taken her keys to make sure it was locked and she was safe. A kindly gesture, but it irked Helen just a bit that she wasn’t being asked. Ryn had a particularly weak grasp of the concept of personal possessions. 

Ryn was a conundrum to Helen. She placed little stock in items though she was always fondling and staring at them, rather orienting herself constantly to Maddie or herself. She didn’t want her own clothes, her own hairbrush, or even her own toothbrush unless she or Maddie had worn or used it first. Ryn even tried sometimes to crawl into bed with her. Sometimes she let her, but she also often did not.  
It seemed Ryn thrived off of close ties to her friends.

Helen had talked about this often with Maddie, and they had theorized that perhaps this was a thing of Mermaids. Ryn had been very adamant and driven in finding her sister Donna when she first came to them in Bristol Cove last summer. Perhaps, now that Donna was gone and Ryn was unable to return to the sea, the mermaid had chosen Maddie, Ben, and her as her new group? Her new friends? Family? Perhaps, she mused, Mermaids were like the toothed whales; Matriarchal and family driven. Helen didn’t know much about whales, but Maddie probably would. Didn’t they form close family bonds? She vaguely recalled a story of a bunch of harbour porpoises that all beached themselves to try to help a newborn that got stuck on sand bar.

She made a mental note to ask Maddie when they next met.

She crawled back into bed and rearranged her hair.

Ryn was a joy to have around. A real gift, but she was quite the mystery as well.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ben sat at the local dock with his guitar in hand, looking out over the bay. It was nice and private here during the late evening hours. It had been weeks now since he had ventured out onto the dock to play. He had been really scared the first time, but he found that Ryn’s song, which now only sometimes sang in his mind, was always silent as long as he had his own tunes to play. 

He smiled. 

He could not actually even remember the last time he had heard it, or had hallucinated. Was it last week? 

The spring wind blew against him and he breathed it in deeply. Maddie had come over last night with a bottle of wine and they had had a great time. 

It had been like old times. 

Well, almost. They had talked about Ryn, but Ben was proud that nothing bad had happened. No hallucinations, no song. 

Ben was happy to hear that Ryn could now write, though her letters were still hard to read. He knew because she had written some for him. She could also draw, and Maddie had shown him several pictures the mermaid had made about life under the sea. They were rough, but beautiful and mysterious. It reminded him that Ryn, although she looked human, was like an alien from another world. He missed her dearly.  
Ben returned to the present. He shuffled through some songs and chose one he wasn’t quite getting.

Strumming and humming, he got lost in the music as the water gently twinkled back at him, reflecting the dock lights. 

From behind a pier close by, a pair of beautiful blue eyes keenly watched.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ryn woke from a particularly warm and enigmatic dream. She stretched, kicking back the covers. In it, she had been doing all sorts of things. She remembered swimming with Ben, Maddie, and Helen; all in Mermaid form. They had been hunting a big hook finned fish with the sharp nose; the very fastest that always challenged her and Sister before. The four had worked in seamless unison, using sight, smell, and wit to tire the great fish out. Finally, Ben, as was his right, had torn out the back fin and brought the prey to a stop. 

The flesh was excellent! All muscle!! She remembered the four of them eating and sharing the best parts. Ben gave her the great fish’s heart!

Ryn licked her lips in fond memory. Food time! Light was streaming in the big window in Helen’s apartment, showing a foggy damp morning. She got up and went to discover how the world looked like today. The green leaves were all back on the trees again. Early summer was here.

At the window the mermaid paused, remembering another interesting part of her fading dream. One that brought an immediate wave of intense happiness and other unexplainable emotions to her. She clutched her chest unconsciously.

She had dreamt about Ben and his songs. They had called to her…

In her dream he had been sitting at the dock and had been singing to himself with that wooden instrument Maddie called a Guitar. She had been hiding behind a pillar as she usually did to keep him from seeing her. To keep him safe. And to make her feel better about herself.

This time though, things were different. The song that Ben played washed through her. It made her feel warm and weak willed... It had been so nice, so soothing, so pretty. In her dream she had slowly, uncontrollably moved closer and closer to Ben as if pulled by unseen warm caressing hands. Somehow though, the closer she got, the further Ben seemed to move away. If only she could touch him….. Hug him… kiss him… she knew everything would be fine.

Ryn jumped as a shiver of excitement raced up her spine. It needed no explanation; she knew what it meant.

Ben was love.

The thought of this nearly forgotten dream made Ryn smile and bite her lip. She turned from the window and hopped excitedly to the kitchen to put out Helen’s plate. She was probably going to get up at any moment.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ben and Maddie were at the beach, looking out over the bay. They had met up earlier at his houseboat for a good supper and had walked together to a cozy place they knew where they could light a fire and watch the sun set. It was quite romantic. The fire was now burning bright, and Ben was fiddling with his guitar. Summer had finally come, and the air simmered with the last heat of the day.

“So Ben, are you trying to tell me you’re better? You don’t hear her song anymore?” Maddie asked slowly, trying but failing to hide her excitement. “How are you certain?”

“I’m not certain” He responded, ‘but it’s been more than a month since anything like that has happened to me. I’m back to my old self. I even went out with Xander the other day.”

“That was rather risky wasn’t it?”

“Well,” Ben sighed. “I don’t think so. In any case, I’m sleeping again…. as you know.”

A sudden grin split his face and he quickly bent over and placed a kiss on her lips. The two laughed as they untangled themselves. Both knew they had not had a lot of sleep last night, but that was not the fault of the song.

‘I think you should wait just a while longer” Maddie laughingly replied.

The two looked at the bay while Ben continued to randomly pluck strings. A small moment passed.

“I don’t want to,” He finally said. “I’ve already lost so much time”.

“Hey, play me a tune!” Maddie replied, hoping Ben might be distracted from this current subject.

“That good one; you know, from last night. The one that…”

She couldn’t finish. Ben planted another one on her. Then he began to play, smiling. Maddie laughed and adjusted her position to face Ben as he played. The sunset was nice, but Ben, in his returned glory was much better. She hoped he would be patient.

The song soothed her and she leaned back to enjoy. When he finished up, he seamlessly began another. Time passed, and the evening turned to night. The fire was warm.

Maddie tensed, inhaling sharply. 

Ben gave her a quizzical glance but bent back to his guitar, eyes intent on the strings. In a moment he was lost in concentration again.

Maddie stared. From behind some rocks a bit further from the shore, Ryn was watching them. Her eyes twinkled in the firelight. She didn’t seem to react when Maddie looked at her; so intent was she on Ben and his music. She took a small timid step forward, almost as if she hadn’t meant to. Another soon followed. And another.

Maddie looked Ryn directly in the eyes and tried to get her attention, but she wasn’t getting through to her. Ryn seemed transfixed by Ben. A chill followed by sudden dread formed in Maddie’s gut. What was Ryn doing? Was she going to…

Ryn unconsciously grasped at her chest; her eyes widening and glowing as if moist.

Maddie’s dread melted away. Wave after wave of emotion shot through her, finally settling on something that felt almost motherly. She felt pity, sadness, relief…, joy. Uncontrolled happiness. Yes, that was it. She wanted to hug her and give her a big kiss.

Maddie choked back a tear.

Poor Ryn! She had been so patient, so understanding. For so long. 

Maddie’s mind flashed with recognition. Ryn had asked about his health all the time, had worried herself half sick about him. She had even probably watched over him. She had effectively put his wellbeing before her own happiness. 

Her mind raced. Ryn must have heard Ben say he was better. She was probably being overcome by a torrent of pent up emotions.

The mermaid drifted closer to Ben, seemingly unaware. 

Ryn finally noticed Maddie staring at her, and froze like a thief caught in the act. Maddie had thought Ryn’s eyes were open wide, but the result was that they opened even wider. For a brief moment sheer terror shone in the mermaids eyes. She looked around, confused at her surroundings, looking as if she was getting ready to bolt. Maddie smiled. 

It was time. 

Ben was better. 

Maddie raised up both arms, gesturing Ryn to them.

Ryn’s expression melted into what Maddie took as anxiety, worry, and excitement. She made a small head gesture at Ben and then returned her gaze to Maddie.  
Maddie smiled even more, waving her on. A slow moment passed.

Ryn came.

Ben jumped as Ryn sat down beside him; the guitar sliding to the sand. He looked at the blue eyed girl with a stunned expression, gasping. A moment of stillness passed. Then Ben’s head sprang into action. In rapid succession he turned to Maddie, read her smiling face, and then returned his gaze to Ryn. 

Maddie looked on with tears in her eyes. Ben had once said that her smile could power a small city. She giggled. If only he could see his own now. Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. Well, it skipped several.

“Ryn!” he finally exclaimed. His voice trembled with emotion. 

“Hello Ben” she replied.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there is that. My wierd dream. 
> 
> Is it probable? You tell me:)  
> Beyond that, how do you interprete Ben being able to overcome his current situation? Will he? How will Ryn and Ben come together again? How would Maddie react? What draws Ryn to Ben other than his kindness? Is there more to it than that?
> 
> Food for thought!
> 
> As always, please tell me all that you think about this!


End file.
